Starmer: ‘I wouldn’t trust Putin’ without security guarantees for Ukraine

The prime minister said ‘nobody wants to see that’ after an angry clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky was televised on Friday.

Speaking this morning, Keir Starmer said he ‘felt uncomfortable’ watching footage from the Oval Office, at a moment of ‘fragility’ for Europe.

The PM said that Europe will come up with a plan with Ukraine and then put it to the US, after Friday’s negotiations came up short.

This could involve a ‘coalition of the willing’ to defend against Russia with a European security guarantee, as opposed to trying to bring ‘every single country’ involved on board which would be less ‘agile’.

Asked about his reaction to the clashes, Starmer said he ‘rolled up his sleeves’ and phoned both the US and Ukraininan presidents to try and resolve the issues.

He said he did not believe Zelensky had done anything wrong: ‘No, I think this is a man whose country has been at war for three years.’

Speaking with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, he said he would not trust Vladimir Putin if peace was agreed in a deal without security guarantees.

He said: ‘Well no, I wouldn’t trust Putin, which is why I want a security guarantee. I wouldn’t trust him not to come again, because he’s proven that he will come again. He’s already done it, and we know what his ambitions are,’ he said.

‘I think we need to shut that opportunity out. How do we defend the line if a line is agreed?’

He said he would discuss a security guarantee with French president Emmanual Macron, and would then go to the US to consult further.

Trump’s angry words with Zelensky, broadcast in extraordinary scenes on Friday, came just a day after Starmer presented the US president with a letter from King Charles inviting him for a second state visit.

Dismissing the possibility of rescinding the offer, Starmer said this would not be happening.

He said: ‘The central, most important thing, what drives me is – “is what I’m saying and doing more likely to bring about a peace, a lasting peace?”

‘If the answer is yes, I’ll do it. If the answer is no, I won’t do it. I’ve seen people ramping up on rhetoric and taking to Twitter and saying what they would do. Good for them. I’m not that interested in that. I’m interested in, what are the practical steps? What are the bridge building that I can do? What are the relationships that I can mend and take forward to take us to lasting peace in Europe and in the end, that’s my central concern.’